· 3. ARTCC out to 200nm - change in the Freq List and Nearest algorithm to extend the range of ARTCC freqs in the list (think high altitude aircraft flying in the jet airways)

· 4. Bluetooth & Wifi - Bluetooth is 2-way comm with a properly paired external Bluetooth keyboard. WiFi is initially a 1-way, streaming out of the IFD, capability to certain, to-be-named-later, software apps hosted on mobile/tablet devices. The two-way capability will follow in trail. This area will require separate STC approval from the FAA - we split that out of the main STC so as to not hold up the Release 10.1.0.0 STC for both the IFD540 and IFD440.

5.

· 5. Single row FPL - provides the user with an option to collapse the vertical height of flight plan legs on the FPL to a single row. This is especially useful in IFD440s where there is less vertical display space.

· 6. All vertical constraints shown and at proper geo
spot - expands the current capability by now displaying all vertical contraints visually on the moving map, not just for the next waypoint. And, if there is a vertical constraint, say, 5 nm prior to the waypoint, the depiction is at that 5nm point, not on the waypoint itself.

· 7. Option to pull down heading/track box on map - provides moving map setup option to remove that heading box from display. This frees up (i.e. declutters) the map and might be helpful in IFD440 installations and even dual IFD installations where you have plenty of heading indications as is and may elect to turn it off on one of the displays.

· 9. Rubber band active leg - now permits you to rubber band the active leg in the flight plan.

· 10. ADS-B Wx and traffic - adds support for display of ADS-B In weather and traffic data from a MLB100 (new Avidyne box coming out at approximately the same time).

· 11. Helo TA and FLTA changes - improves the altitude and distance triggers for Terrain Awareness and Forward Looking Terrain Alerts in rotary wing aircraft. No changes to fixed wing, just a more operationally useful set of triggers for rotary wing.

· 12. Other helo optimizations - more helo specific changes such as adding an input from the collective to determine air/ground transitions for transponder state changes, and higher gains in the GPS that are operating underneath a spinning set of rotors, etc.

· 13. FLTA Inhibited/Off message now a blue CAS
instead of yellow top strip - moved the FLTA messages off the top strip and into a standard Caution Advisory System message in bottom right corner.

· 14. Volume page is now touch control too - added touch control to the Audio tab on AUX page.

· 15. Headwind component on Air Data calculator - added a specific callout of headwind to that existing calculator page.

· 29. Ability to entry in Flight ID and Default VFR
code when have a remote transponder - new entries in User Options page

· 30. 500' callout on instrument final - added user option to turn on/off the aural "500" call out on final approach.

· 31. Sinking tabs option - added user option to allow the bottom strip of tabs to sink down out of view after a designated timeout. This adds more display real estate and may be helpful especially in IFD440s.

· 32. Approach type in Nav Source knob label - added more detail to the Nav Source label in top right corner. For example, when you are on a GPS-based approach, instead of just the generic "GPS" label, it will tell you the exact approach type the system is flying (e.g. "LPV" or "LNAV/VNAV" or "LNAV+V", etc)

· 33. VLOC nav source label stays yellow until morse
code decoded - designed to give you a little more help in knowing if the system has properly Tuned-Identified-Monitored.

· 34. Sharp intercepts inside the FAF allowed - designed to allow one to still grab glideslope, glidepath deviations on a VFR sharp intercept inside the Final Approach Fix.

· 41. Save/Restore capability added for Checklists,
User Settings, Waypoints, Routes - allows you to save all that user setting data on a USB fob for use on other IFDs or later on the same/replaced IFD.

· 42. Direct To changes - some subtle improvements to Direct To behavior.

· 43. Nearest top of list behavior changes - changes behavior to Nearest list such that when you've been off the Nearest page for more than a few seconds, the cursor position will pop back up to top of list (i.e. nearest element)

· 44. Right DCK labeling change - adds more intuitive bottom right knob labeling for the 0.4% of you that actually read those labels.

· 45. Shadin Fuel Flows now all work - fixes a software issue in which some types of Shadin Fuel Flow systems did not properly display on the IFD.

· 46. Cursor centered mode on map - adds a new mode where the moving map will auto pan to be centered on whatever leg in the flight plan your cursor is on. This allows for nice long route previewing.

· 47. Track CDI is now factory default - this was a Maintenance Mode setting that was being set wrong on a number of installations by installers in the field.

· 48. Full Nav triangle is now factory default - the Map page Nav declutter setting will default (from the factory) to full on. You can still change the declutter setting yourselves and that user set value will remain across power cycles.

· 49. Able to take synchro input for heading - adds this new source of heading to the IFD.

· 50. All IFD440 changes supported - a lot of pages were reformatted to be better optimized for the IFD440 display real estate. The software knows if its hosted on an IFD540 or an IFD440 at startup and reformats automatically.

There are a number of other under-the-hood changes designed to improve performance. One of those is a higher gain GPS receiver that should further improve GPS signal strength in the IFD.

Reference Bad1996 questions, no one has asked about that yet on #7. One technique would be to put those datablocks you ask about in the top strip. While not large font, it would put it in close proximity to the heading box.

On your other wish list item about bigger one line data, that capability does not exist at this time. I'll have to think about it - might be a bunch of software cert work to do it but I'll think about it some more.

Have you spent any brain cells evaluating my request for adding the capability of installing the updated data early so that it could be exchanged on demand the day of effectivity? Sure would be nice, especially with the two week life of the Jeppesen Approach Chart Data.

500' callout on instrument final - added user option to turn on/off the aural "500" call out on final approach.

Very good.

Could we also add an "approaching minimums" field. This would obviously have to be custom set for each approach, with the call out, say 50ft above the set value -- time to look up. I expect this could only work if BARO ALT is available.

Sinking tabs option - added user option to allow the bottom strip of tabs to sink down out of view after a designated timeout. This adds more display real estate and may be helpful especially in IFD440s.

5 custom users - added ability to have up to 5 different and uniquely nameable user setup configurations. This applies to datablocks, map configurations, checklists, etc.

Yay! Also good to see the scrollable datablocks. Perhaps soon the datablocks per phase of flight.

* Orest

I presume you mean automatic per phase of flight, right? With this change as is, you can name one "Departure", another one "Enroute", another one "Arrival", etc and set them up as you prefer for phase of flight. You have to manually select which grouping you want from the User Options page but it totally supports the phase of flight idea now, just not an automatic selection.

500' callout on instrument final - added user option to turn on/off the aural "500" call out on final approach.

Very good.

Could we also add an "approaching minimums" field. This would obviously have to be custom set for each approach, with the call out, say 50ft above the set value -- time to look up. I expect this could only work if BARO ALT is available.

* Orest

We could but we were too scared to attempt that right now. A lot of hair associated with that one that we didn't want to try tackling yet.

Sinking tabs option - added user option to allow the bottom strip of tabs to sink down out of view after a designated timeout. This adds more display real estate and may be helpful especially in IFD440s.

What gets them to pop back up?

* Orest

We leave a sliver of the top of the tab visible as a visual reminder they are down there so you either touch down near the tabs or touch one of the page keys makes them rise back up.

There are several timing options available - Never (page tabs will always be present), 2sec, 5sec, 10sec, 15 sec.

Departure time now takeoff time, not power on time - this applies consistency across all the calculator computations and displays.

For the fuel calcs, and fuel tank flip time, and that sort of thing, that is great. Believe I was one of the ones who requested that.

BUT, is there still a power on time included? I was also looking for a block that would show:

OFF BLOCK (approx. power on time) time

TAKEOFF time

LANDING time

ON BLOCK time

... and then the gravy, in digital hours, a block time (off block to on block) and a flight time (takeoff to landing).

I have to record this for every flight, as I'm sure a lot of other pilots, so it would be nice if it were available all in one place.

* Orest

We haven't altered the existing "Trip Timer" and "Departure Time" timers in that you can select if you want those to be from power on or from in-air.

One of the changes made was in the Trip Planner calculator where departure time will track current time, until takeoff, at which time it automatically changes to take off time.

But, your request is an interesting one and not something I explicitly had in the future feature database so I just added it. It would be a datablock that would show 4 times: taxi start, takeoff, land, taxi stop. The taxi start/stop will probably be a little tricky but we might be able to game it a little (i.e. 1st sign of movement of GPS position and return to that same position +/- a few feet with zero ground speed).

We haven't altered the existing "Trip Timer" and "Departure Time" timers in that you can select if you want those to be from power on or from in-air.

One of the changes made was in the Trip Planner calculator where departure time will track current time, until takeoff, at which time it automatically changes to take off time.

But, your request is an interesting one and not something I explicitly had in the future feature database so I just added it. It would be a datablock that would show 4 times: taxi start, takeoff, land, taxi stop. The taxi start/stop will probably be a little tricky but we might be able to game it a little (i.e. 1st sign of movement of GPS position and return to that same position +/- a few feet with zero ground speed).

Ah, all very good, a couple of notes ...

If you can't game the taxi start time, then the power on time will be a reasonable proxy. The taxi stop time, well that wouldn't very often be the spot where you started, and you can't really tell when the plane is about to park, so I might just fill in the CURRENT TIME there, once a landing occurs. The datablock will not be consulted until the times are about to be reviewed, and then that current time will be a reasonable proxy for the BLOCK ON time.

Some folks are paid by the BLOCK time, they might not mind if it is a minute or two longer. ;-)

I would just suggest one other addition, two additional fields in that datablock, that of a TOTAL BLOCK TIME and TOTAL FLIGHT TIME in decimal hours. A trivial calculation to make, once you have the above four blocks.

Oskry is all over the value adds which could be a part of the IFD series.

Here's one from me, actually an extension of what you already have planned.

I spend far too many hours on the silver tube; happily most times 1C, so I hear a lot coming out of the cockpit on the MD-80s I ride.

I commonly hear their radalt audio: 1000, 500, 100, etc.

I know there are issues with using this for a radalt substitute (mostly legal), but if you are going to do a 500 foot annunciation, why not 1000, 500, then minimums? Wouldn't go to 100 etc as GPS derived isn't that accurate...

Mx Mode entry improvements - automatically jumps to the desired tab in Mx mode (e.g. Download Datalogs wakes up on that tab, Database updates wakes up on that tab, etc).

That will surely reduce first time confusion (it confused me), and make it a bit more efficient.

Approach type in Nav Source knob label - added more detail to the Nav Source label in top right corner. For example, when you are on a GPS-based approach, instead of just the generic "GPS" label, it will tell you the exact approach type the system is flying (e.g. "LPV" or "LNAV/VNAV" or "LNAV+V", etc)

VLOC nav source label stays yellow until morse code decoded - designed to give you a little more help in knowing if the system has properly Tuned-Identified-Monitored.

I like these very much, more like a Big Boy PFD annunciation. Hopefully we will eventually also see a HDG -> VLOC indicator!

4. Bluetooth & Wifi - Bluetooth is 2-way comm with a properly paired external Bluetooth keyboard. WiFi is initially a 1-way, streaming out of the IFD, capability to certain, to-be-named-later, software apps hosted on mobile/tablet devices. The two-way capability will follow in trail. This area will require separate STC approval from the FAA - we split that out of the main STC so as to not hold up the Release 10.1.0.0 STC for both the IFD540 and IFD440.

You In ForeFlight Mobile 6.7, released last week, ForeFlight Connect establishes wireless connectivity between ForeFlight Mobile and the Dynon Avionics SkyView system. To quote ForeFlight, "The integration with Dynon Avionics enables Wi-Fi connectivity between your iPad, iPhone, and the SkyView glass panel systems. ForeFlight can send and receive flight plans when connected to SkyView, receive SkyView GPS and AHRS data to feed Synthetic Vision and the moving map display, record flight data, and upload flight data to the cloud."

I hope Avidyne is talking with ForeFlight about similar connectivity between their software and the IFD540!

Steve, I thought you had said the ability to have the georeferenced aircraft to remain centered on the approach plates would be included in 10.1, however, I didn't see it listed. Am I just not seeing it or didn't it make it into the next release?

Can you state how many vendors you are working with for a certain capability and if you are pursuing others or not. Such as:

ADS-B, 1 vendor, no others planned

Flight planning, 1 vendor, 2 additional in discussions

It would be nice to have this now, but it's not really needed until you release the capability. The reason I'm asking for this is because people may buy hardware / software based on connectivity, but may already be set up for something that is in the near future, but not yet announced. Personally, if you said ForeFlight and you were not pursuing anything further, I may consider an iPad. If you said ForeFlight and another in discussions, I'd hold out hoping for an Android solution such as iFly.

Steve, I thought you had said the ability to have the georeferenced aircraft to remain centered on the approach plates would be included in 10.1, however, I didn't see it listed. Am I just not seeing it or didn't it make it into the next release?

No, I'm afraid that did not make the cut for 10.1 for schedule-driven reasons.

Oskry is all over the value adds which could be a part of the IFD series.

Here's one from me, actually an extension of what you already have planned.

I spend far too many hours on the silver tube; happily most times 1C, so I hear a lot coming out of the cockpit on the MD-80s I ride.

I commonly hear their radalt audio: 1000, 500, 100, etc.

I know there are issues with using this for a radalt substitute (mostly legal), but if you are going to do a 500 foot annunciation, why not 1000, 500, then minimums? Wouldn't go to 100 etc as GPS derived isn't that accurate...

We do have all those aurals recorded and actually in the IFD540 from day 1. We just haven't provided a means for triggering those additional alt-based callouts. The 500' one is the next baby step toward full certified TAWS so that's why I picked that one.

Bottom line first - we are still on track to be shipping certified 10.1.0.0 software and new IFD440 systems prior to Sun-n-Fun.

We have eaten up about a week of our schedule slack in the past week or so but that still leaves 3-4 weeks for the FAA to process the submission package prior to SnF.

On the hardware side, we ran into a problem on the IFD440 environmental vibration testing where the cam latch that secured the unit in the tray was not robust enough so we had to make a minor mechanical design change to deal with that. All set now.

On the software side, we're a matter of hours away from starting official software test-for-credit which is a good thing.

Flight test is going well - the items it is uncovering are all minor and most are being deferred to later releases.

Look for the one titled, "IFD540 Pilot's Guide Release 10.1.0.0 Draft". Every word I changed or added is currently highlighted in yellow for easy finding. I will remove the yellow highlighting and put in change bars only for the final copy. I haven't updated the page numbers in the index yet - I'll do that last.

There were a few motivations for posting this draft:

1. Give folks a good sense of exactly what's changing from a user's perspective;

2. Give people a chance to review the changes and provide input before it's locked down and sent to the publishers for printing. We have roughly 2-ish weeks before I hit that point so any input you'd like to send my way would be most appreciated. Since it could end up clogging up this forum easily, I'd ask that if you want to send input, please use my email address (sjacobson@avidyne.com) for that feedback.

I expect to post a draft of the IFD440 variant in about a week's time.

I posted this over on the Beechtalk website as my user perspective on the new features.

I loaded up 10.1.0.0 and have had a chance to play with it. This is the first real functional enhancement release for the IFD540 and initial release for the IFD440. The list of feature enhancements on the first page is a good list, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about how these features fit into real world usage.

Standby Comm monitoring - This feature allows you to use 1 IFD and have it act like two flip flop radios where you can hear ATC or Unicom on a primary channel and ATIS or ASOS on the stand by using a single device. Ok, So What? Well, it allows you to take advantage of the freq nominating and with two buttons listen to a second frequency. So, it isn't so much the stand alone feature as it is an integrated package. Those with 2 IFD devices can listen to four frequencies at the same time.

Single Row Flight Plans - The current multi line waypoint in the IFD has a lot of good information, but in an IFD540 you can only see 4-5 waypoints. This is usually sufficient, but if you wanted to see more of the flight plan, you previously could not. The Single Row flight plan option allows you to see 2-3x the number of waypoints in the flight plan, and if you have 2 IFD devices, then you might have one set to normal and the other set to single row. It is a welcome option

Removal of the Track Box and hide tabs options - Its all about the real estate! I use the track information in a datablock and rarely use the large track box at the top center. We can now remove the box and gain back the real estate. Likewise, the tabs at the bottom can now be auto hidden like your windows 7 task bar. I set mine to disappear after 5 seconds, but I think I'll shorten it to 2 seconds. Similarly, The FLTA Inhibited message at the top now goes to a CAS message and frees up that top line for more data blocks. I really like these features because I am a KISS kind of guy and don't really need all that information on the screen and what I really want to see is the MAP.

Updated Air Data Calculator and Fuel Planner - I use these features all the time and they have been reworked for clarity and added function to compute the headwind component. Very good functional enhancement.

Checklist improvement - If you use the checklist function, they have made it significantly easier to reset the checklist and have added more allowable line items. I'd like to see the ability to reorder the checklists, but that is in the feature request database for now.

VSR function now works without a Baro input which is very nice, and now functions like the G430/530 function from that standpoint. Combined with the existing TOD chime, and ability to add constraints on multiple waypoints and have the crossing altitudes display on the map at the proper location, it completes this function.

Multiple user profiles - If you have a flying club, or a partnership, not everyone will want the same options and configuration. You can now define up to 5 profiles which is great. While I am a sole owner an pilot of my airplane, if I were in a partnership, we could have a Geoffrey profile where I go into user settings and change it to my name and I'm off flying with my known setup without worrying about who changed what. Similarly, if I was the airplane officer in a club with 50 members, I could create 5 profiles for users to choose from. Very nice and insightful on how these units might be used.

TAWS component addition - They added the 500ft callout which I like because on a normal pattern, I generally want to be 500ft as I turn final and this is just a mental reminder of where I should be - when. In addition to this callout, there is smart aural airspace alerting available. I've turned this off as I generally know where I am and what airspace I'm in. However, if I were flying in unfamiliar busy territory, I would most likely turn this feature on.

Scrollable Datablocks - I like this one, especially for single IFD installations where you simply want more information than there is space. Now you can scroll the right side. On my dual install, I can now add the traffic thumbnail on the right side which I don't have displayed anywhere now. This is important because it is the only place where I can see what mode the TAS620 is in and change it if required. Previously I had to rely on it autoswitching and then couldn't change the mode if I needed to.

Save user settings/checklists/etc. - This is a tremendous features. When I upgraded to 10.1.0.0 I lost all settings (which makes sense given what is changed in the box software) and it would have been nice to be able to load up my settings. Well, with the new version this is now available. So, if you have your box upgraded from 10.1.0.0 or sent back for repair, you can save and load your personalization to the box. Awesome time saver for both avionics techs and users alike.

Approach changes - I have not flown any approaches with it yet, but there are a number of enhancements here that help provide information about what the unit is doing, or about to do. I'll report back once I have a chance to fly an approach or two.

The rest of the changes not mentioned I'm sure are important, but they didn't strike me the way the ones above did. When I get a chance, I'll post some of the features new compared with the old look, but it probably won't be until after this weekend.

I found the answer to the question on another thread ... I thought there was a manual entry for baro when setting up an approach (my last GPS had that) and thats what i was looking for .. I will wait patiently for the 10.1...

Trucking along nicely. Still expecting to be certified and shipping prior to Sun-n-Fun.

We've started and completed for large sections software test-for-credit on the system already which is ahead of internal projections.

If testing goes well this weekend in the environmental chamber, we should be all done with hardware qual testing by Monday which is about a week behind projection but won't have any impact on final cert date.

Trying to bring the FAA test pilots in for an evaluation bench and flight session in the next week or so - they have determined they want to retain cert approval for some elements of the system instead of fully delegating. May not be a big deal presuming their schedule availability has plenty of holes.

Expect to have the draft IFD440 Pilot Guide available for review and commenting on this coming week. Sent the updated IFD540 Pilot Guide to the printers after getting helpful input from a number of folks (thanks for that!).

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